This article was published on February 4, 2013

The Raspberry Pi Model A is now available in Europe, global orders to be processed soon


The Raspberry Pi Model A is now available in Europe, global orders to be processed soon

Raspberry Pi has announced that RS Components and Premier Farnell/element14 have the Model A Raspberry Pi in stock today.

The first release of the Model A will only be available in Europe and Raspberry Pi says that the restriction will be lifted very soon to make it available worldwide.

Raspberry Pi is a credit-card sized computer that can be plugged into a TV and keyboard. It can do many of the things a regular PC does including work on spreadsheets, word processing and gaming.

Since its launch, the little computer that could has inspired hackers and makers around the world as well as being used in classes where kids can learn to code. More recently Google donated 15,000 units to schools around the UK and head honcho Eric Schmidt joined Raspberry Pi co-founder Eben Upton to teach a group of school children.

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The Model A was announced in November last year. It’s a stripped down version of the Model B with no ethernet, one USB port and 256MB RAM.

Model-A-1024x709

Raspberry Pi says that the lighter version means that it is available at a cheaper price point, just $25 and that it consumes only a third of the power of the Model B.

This means that it is more appealing to those running the board from battery or solar power like robots, sensor platforms in remote locations and Wi-Fi repeaters. The company says that it is working on software to bring the power consumption down even more.

Those who are based outside of Europe can order the Model A now, but there will be a delay in processing these orders so that Raspberry Pi can complete the required shipping paperwork. Once that is sorted out, Farnell customers outside of Europe should see the Model A appear on local sites.

Image Credit: Natalie Maynor / Flickr

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